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Festive farewell
Christmasland in Saanich celebrates final season Page A3
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SAANICHNEWS Wednesday, December 17, 2014
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Watch for breaking news at www.saanichnews.com
Mayor: staff profiling of candidates before election ‘inappropriate’ In-house presentation covered politicians’ platforms on major issues including amalgamation, sewage Daniel Palmer News staff
Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell is promising to investigate why staff resources were used to profile political candidates during last month’s election campaign. The “unprecedented” move resulted in a 22-page presentation in which each candidate’s platform, political promises and stance on major issues like sewage treatment and amalgamation was presented to a group of senior staff on Nov. 12, three days before the municipal election, Atwell said. “Staff are supposed to be apolitical. This is really unprecedented and totally inappropriate,” Atwell said. He had “extreme difficulty” obtaining a copy of the presentation, he added. Atwell was tipped off to a meeting, held Nov. 12 at the Cedar Hill golf course, where 34 senior staff members were pre-
Come True
sented with candidate positions. A copy obtained by the News shows there were no recommendations made by staff on which councillors or mayoral candidates to elect. “I’ve shown this presentation to senior administrators at other municipalities and they’ve never seen anything like this,” Atwell said. Coun. Susan Brice said the practise of staff attending allcandidates meetings to identify “emerging issues” during election campaigns is nothing new. “I know that certainly over the years, before (Chief Administrative Officer) Paul Murray was even there, when the previous CAO was there, there were sometimes staff at all-candidates meetings to see what some of the emerging issues were and the direction the community might be going in,” Brice said. PlEASE SEE: Candidate profiling, Page A4
Christine van Reeuwyk/News staff
Saanich resident Eli Rose, 3, plays with a dreidel, just one small Hanukkah tradition.
Hanukkah celebrates the light Christine van Reeuwyk News Staff
Three-year-old Ira Rose already knows the candle in the middle of the menorah is the “helper candle.” The Saanich youngster is slightly put off by the ceremonial candelabrum that instead features his familiar candle to the far left, raised from the other eight, in
Janna Bleviss’ collection. “If you have a Christmas tree, you collect different ornaments as the years go by. This is the same,” says Janna in her Oak Bay home. The seven-candled menorah is used all year for Jewish worship and ceremony. At Hanukkah, there are nine candles: eight mark the miracle and a ninth is used to light the others. The history of Hanukkah har-
kens back to 165 BC, when the Maccabees, a Jewish rebel army, conquered the Syrians resulting in the rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem. The Maccabees had found enough consecrated oil in the temple to light its eternal flame for one day, but the lamp purportedly burned for eight. PlEASE SEE: Holiday traditions, Page A5
make her wishes Mayfair Shopping Centre www.MayfairJewellery.ca 250.590.2065